According to his widow, Desha Head Taylor, a posthumous album will be released from the late Phife Dawg in 2017. The rapper and A Tribe Called Quest member reportedly recorded solo music before his death from diabetes at the young age of 45. The album is tentatively titled Give Thanks, and was teased earlier on in the year with the single “Nutshell,” produced by J Dilla.
He passed away this past March due to complications from the disease, just after recording his vocal parts for A Tribe Called Quest’s latest (and supposedly final) album, We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service. The album reached No. one in it’s first week on the charts.
“His solo album will be out probably sometime during the first quarter of 2017,” Taylor told The Fader. “We’re working on it now. He completed his entire solo album before he transitioned, so we’re excited about releasing that.”
She also described her late husband’s final months working on We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service.
“There were times where he was working on the album where he would send me video footage of him rhyming over some of the beats that you would hear on the album. He would make a certain face when hearing the beat, he would make this frown like ‘I’m feeling this,’ and you would hear his verses in the back. He was really excited about this project.”
Phife only released one solo album during his lengthy career, which was the 2000 work Ventilation: Da LP.
The late rapper was also honored in his hometown of Queens, NY when a street corner was named after him this past Sunday (Nov. 19). The sign bearing his name is located at the 192nd Street and Linden Boulevard section of the St. Albans neighborhood. A Tribe Called Quest members Q-Tip and Jarobi White were present with his family during the ceremony, and even did a bit of rapping at the event.
